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Cafe Churchill (Mumbai) | Restaurant Review

Place: Cafe Churchill
Location: Adj. Bata, Colaba, Mumbai
Cuisine: Global, Pizza
Meal: Lunch (with a friend)

Colaba happens to be my favorite part of Bombay for we used to stay around here during amma’s official tours ages ago (when I was in school). I often used to come here whenever I was bored during my stay in the city a couple of years ago, and on one such visit, I discovered a gem of a restaurant hidden behind the bustling street market. It’s a small place with less than ten tables, and has decent ambiance which actually gives you a feeling of walking down an old memory lane. Being a small joint, it’s packed most of the time, and walking in on a weekday afternoon, we initially had to share a table with an elderly couple before we were moved to a table next to the entrance.

An elderly Parsi aunty (one of the owners) handed us the menu, and after long contemplation, we ordered an Olive Pizza and King Papalina Lasagna. I had tasted their French Fries with Cheese long before, and unable to resist my temptation, I later added portion of the same to our order.

The Fries were served in about ten minutes, looked mouth-watering and tasted absolutely delicious. There was cheese all over, and the fries were perfect. A little ketchup, and yum! The best part though was not just the cheese on the top, but there was cooked cream cheese stuffed on the bottom which was out-of-the-world good. I’m so glad that I couldn’t resist my temptation. Bliss!

The pizza was served next, and this looked yum again. The thick crust pizza was covered with cheese, black and green olives and lots of oregano. While the pizza base wasn’t really great, the tomato sauce and thick layer of cheese with the oregano made this an excellent pizza.

We were full by the time King Papalina arrived, but couldn’t resist digging in. Stuffed with tons of marinated mushrooms, loads of cheese and cooked cream cheese between layers of pasta, this was as good as a lasagna could get. Again, yummilicious!

Overall, an excellent meal. But we weren’t done yet. In the past, I’d observe their pastries displayed in a refrigerator near the entrance sell like hotcakes, and today was no different. Though we were heading to Theobroma after the meal, decided to give their famous Blueberry Cheesecake a try.

Honestly, the cheesecake wasn’t as great as I expected. It was quite heavy and a little too sweet for my liking. However, it was bad by no means. I just didn’t enjoy it as much as the rest of the meal.

With friendly service, decent ambiance and prices, and most importantly, delicious food, this place is a must visit for any foodaholic. Zomato calls it a Legendary restaurant, and my meal was truly legendary. Go hog!

Food: 9.5/10
Service: 9.5/10
Ambiance: 9/10
Meal for 2: Rs. 905/-

Verdict: 9.5/10

Flying Spaghetti Monster | Restaurant Review

Place: Flying Spaghetti Monster
Location: Adj. Blue Cross, Road No. 35, Jubilee Hills
Cuisine: Italian
Meal: Dinner

For dinner on my birthday, I was contemplating between Little Italy and Flying Spaghetti Monster, and finally chose the latter. I’ve read quite a few good things about this place, especially about the restaurant in Vizag, so was kinda excited. It’s located right at the end of Road No. 35, right next to Blue Cross Hyderabad. Walking in, there was option of sitting in either indoor or outdoor dining sections. I sat outside, at a corner table right next to the indoor dining area. The interiors of the indoor section were well done, with high ceiling and bright lights, while the outdoor was more rustic, and had a romantic touch to it.

These guys have a long menu, and it was quite a task to choose from. I was thinking of ordering a starter and a pizza, but the chief chef and owner, Ajay, who was taking my order suggested that it might be too much, and recommended just the pizza with a drink. I ordered the Sicilia Pizza (sun-dried tomatoes, mushroom, onion, mozzarella, basil and chili oil), and a Pina Colada.

The Pina Colada was served almost right away and tasted very very good. It was creamy, just the way I like it, and not too sweet either.

In about 10-15 minutes, the pizza was served. It looked very colorful and was loaded with veggies. Taste wise, it was again very palatable. I loved the thin crust, and the onions and mushrooms, along with the tomatoes were giving it great flavor. I’ve been craving for some good pizza since I was in Singapore, and I finally got some. The size was pretty decent, and I was glad I hadn’t ordered a starter.

After a good meal so far, I was now yearning for an awesome dessert. While Ajay suggested the Chocolate Bomb, I was in no mood for chocolate, and so zeroed in on the Blueberry Cheesecake.

And boy oh boy, am glad that I did for I absolutely loved it. It was creamy, yet so light that it just melt in my mouth. Again, not too sweet, and the crust was baked perfectly. It was so good that I had an after taste for close to an hour after reaching home. Definitely the best cheesecake I’ve had in recent times (and better than the one I had at The Cheesecake Factory in Dubai a few months ago).

Overall, a perfect end to my birthday, and I walked out with a happy tummy. While the meal was heavy on the pocket, the ambiance, service and especially the food made up for it. The service was pretty neat and I loved the fact that the owner/chef himself was attending to the customers. The place was very well done, but I’m not sure if it has the appeal during day time. It would have also been nice to have some music at the outdoor dining area. Nevertheless, I’m definitely coming back to this place soon, and suggest you try it as well.

Food: 9.5/10
Service: 9/10
Ambience: 9/10
Meal for 1: Rs. 945/-

Verdict: 9.5/10

Peperoncino | Restaurant Review

Place: Pepperoncini
Location: Fourth Floor, Building Opp. Ratnadeep, Road No. 12, Banjara Hills
Cuisine: Italian
Meal: Lunch

On a lazy Sunday afternoon, I decided to go hog at Viva Italia. But the scorching sun made me think over it for I wanted to go sit at an air-conditioned place. Read about this new place called Peperoncino on Zomato, and decided to give it a try. I dropped in a little after 2:00 PM, and the restaurant was empty (literally). The place looked decent, with well done interiors, a glass kitchen on one side, and a nice aerial view on the other (unfortunately of the slums).

Their menu looked pretty decent, and everything was priced more or less reasonably (for a restaurant of this size in this location). I ordered for ‘Funghi Ripieni’ (fried mushrooms stuffed with cheese and herbs) followed by a ‘Calabrese’ pizza (pepper sauce, mozzarella, onions, mushrooms, garlic and olives).

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Thanks to the glass kitchen, I could see the chefs make everything from scratch. In about 10 minutes, the starters were ready and served. First off, I was a little disappointed with the quantity (It’s maybe because I’ve got used to huge portions of everything in the recent past). Anyways, the stuffed mushrooms tasted pretty alright, but were very oily. The Tomato chutney served along tasted pretty good. On the whole, a decent start, but I honestly was expecting something better.

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The pizza was served right after I was done with the starters. It looked good, with loads of veggies on it but tasted average. Though the crust was crunchy and well-baked, the pizza was too dry and lacked flavor. Tons of oregano made it taste better. It was supposed to be a little spicy because of the pepper sauce, but I didn’t find it spicy, for probably it was unevenly smeared across the base. I asked for extra cheese, but the pizza barely had any cheese on it as well. It was a decent pizza, but not on my list of favorites.

I had read that their desserts are pretty good, so decided to give them a try. I asked the waiter to help me pick the best, and he suggested Tiramisu, followed by Cioccolato Fondente (chocolate cake with molten chocolate in the center). I opted for the latter, and I was told that it would take a while for the cake to be baked.

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After about 15 minutes, the molten chocolate cake was served. For some reason, though it wasn’t mentioned, I expected it to be served with vanilla ice cream. It was good, but again, not satisfying. There was nothing special or ‘wow’ about it; it was just decent, and that’s what disappointed me.

Overall, an average meal. Food, ambiance and service were all decent. However, my want of going and enjoying a meal at a cool place was foiled for the place was burning hot, and I was sweating all through out. Since the place was empty, one air-conditioner was turned on only when I walked in. Midway through, when I complained that it was too hot, they turned another one on. The place was huge, and I was their only customer, but you don’t try to save on your electricity while the customer is sweating do you? The place has the potential to be huge, but it needs to work for it. And being empty on a Sunday afternoon doesn’t speak much either.

Give it a shot, but don’t expect too much. Probably my high expectations thwarted my experience. I’d suggest dinner, cos then you might enjoy the view.

Food: 7.5/10
Service: 8/10
Ambience: 7/10
Meal for 1: Rs. 650/-

Verdict: 7/10

Viva Italia | Restaurant Review

Place: Viva Italia
Location: Ground floor, White House, Next to Lifestyle Building, Begumpet
Cuisine: Italian & Desserts
Meal: Dinner (with amma)

Went to Viva Italia after a long time with amma on a Saturday night to have some yummy food. I decided to have a pizza and amma opted for a sandwich. It was nice to see that these guys have worked on their menu and expanded it quite a bit.

They had a new Pasta on Pizza, and from the description, seemed like it was just made for me. Penne, mushrooms, onions and cheese with white sauce on a crunchy pizza base, awesome. I thought it was a little bland initially, but with some oregano, it tasted better. Amma had the Tomato Cheese Chilli toast, and it was delicious. She loved it.

I decided to hog a little more and ordered for a Veggie Hot-dog. I was told that the vegetarian options are gonna be a little different from the regular hot-dogs, yet I decided to give it a try anyways. The bread was really crunchy, but I thought the stuffing inside lacked a little flavor. I would have preferred more stuffing in there. It was good nevertheless.

These guys also started on desserts, serving cupcakes and brownies.

I’m not a big fan of cupcakes in general, but the Raspberry cupcake was very good. Cupcakes in India are generally very sweet, but this one was just perfect. The brownie turned out to be even better. It was Chocolicious!! I so loved it that I gulped down one more. Reasonably priced at 50 and 35 bucks a piece, these are a must try.

Food: 9/10
Desserts: 9.5/10
Service: 9.5/10
Ambience: 9/10
Meal for 2: Rs. 350/-

Verdict: 9.5/10

Cinnamon Fusion | Restaurant Review

Place: Cinnamon Fusion
Location: 3rd Floor, SBR Gateway, Opposite Motorola, Hitech City
Cuisine: Continental
Meal: Dinner (with couple of friends)

After hearing and reading raving reviews about this place, I was here finally on a weekday with a couple of friends for dinner. We were guessing the place to be packed, but to our surprise, it was empty, and we were the only guests when we entered. The interiors of the place were very well done, and the ambience was good. There was a band playing in one corner to an empty restaurant. They were good, but very loud, which started to get annoying after a while.

The place boasts of a lavish buffet on the table – they have a fixed menu from which you get a choice of soup, salad, entrée, pizza, main course and a desert for 579 bucks (same for veg and non-veg). Though the amount of food was tempting, the fixed menu was pretty sad, so we instead opted to order from the menu. The menu looked huge, but the choice was very limited. Surprisingly, without any Indian curries on the menu, they had a page full of breads. When enquired, we were told that they a specialty European restaurant. I couldn’t help but laugh.

Anyways, we ordered a Creme of Mushroom soup, Chilli Paneer Tikka, Stuffed Mushroom Tikka and Till Tilla Zinga (Prawns) for my friend. Instead of the Chilli Paneer Tikka, we actually wanted to order their specialty Paneer Tiranga, but it wasn’t available.

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I was kinda excited about the soup, for it said it would be cream of three kinds of mushroom garnished with smoked milk froth, but it turned out to be very different from my expectations; it was too thin and there were not many mushrooms in it. The quantity served was pretty good, but I would have preferred thicker soup in less quantity than what was served.

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The starters were served pretty soon, and both the vegetarian starters turned out to be good. The paneer was soft, well marinated and grilled. It was a little too spicy, but no complaints for it was supposed to be. The Mushroom Tikka had stuffed mushroom roasted and cooked, and it was yum. My friends Tiger Prawns were a big disappointment thought, for he found them very hard and under-cooked.

It was really tough to order the main course, for there was not much choice. It was either European or Continental, and both had very few vegetarian options. I finally decided to order a pizza and my friend asked for Pan Fried Noodles. My other friend had Grilled Chicken with Pepper sauce.

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The thin crust pizza was served first. I had asked for Mushrooms, Broccoli, Olives and Jalapeno, but they missed the Jalapeno. The pizza was cheesy (just the way I like it), and the base was crispy. There was no tomato base, but I really didn’t care, for it was very good. On the downside, I thought it was too small for 325 bucks.

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The Pan Fried noodles were served with Vegetable broth which tasted delicious. The vegetables were crunchy, and the sauce was yummy, so altogether, it tasted great with the noodles.

My friend was happy with his Grilled Chicken.

Overall, a decent meal. The fact that there was not much on the menu was a disappointment, but otherwise the food was tasty. The service was decent as well. Though the amount of food we ordered was quite minimal, the bill turned out to be the same as what it would have for the fixed menu. Improving their menu and adding more options to their fixed menu would definitely help them. Give it a shot at your leisure, but don’t expect much.

Food: 8/10
Service: 7.5/10
Ambience: 9/10
Meal for 3: Rs. 1722/-

Verdict: 7.5/10

Via Milano | Restaurant Review

Place: Via Milano
Location: Road No. 36, Jubilee Hills
Cuisine: Italian
Meal: Lunch (with family)

I last visited this place on my birthday, and loved their food (review). The ambience was perfect, and I thought their concept of Executive Lunch was very thoughtful. So when I saw a Snapdeal offering their buffet at half the price, I took the deal right away and dropped in at the restaurant for lunch with my family. The place was crowded, maybe because of the snapdeal, but we were lucky enough to find a table for four in a corner. The general atmosphere in the restaurant this time around was messy, and everything seemed out of sorts.

Their Executive Lunch concept is now replaced with a Buffet with a fixed main course menu. The salads and starters are part of the buffet spread, while the drinks and the main course are served from the kitchen. They also have a live pasta counter. The buffet menu is fixed, and the same everyday.

Hyde_ViaMilano — Courtesy: Via Milano and Snapdeal

For drinks, I asked for a Virgin Mojito while the rest of my family ordered cocktails. We asked for some bread and headed off to get some starters from the spread. To our surprise, the entire spread, except for the desserts, was exhausted. We stood there for the food to arrive, and a couple of Veg. Starters were refilled. We filled our plated with the Potato Croquettes and Panzirottis and returned to our table. The Croquettes were a little too oily for my taste, but the Panzirottis were awesome. They melt in my mouth, and thanks to lack of other food, I must have had atleast a dozen of them. Yum!!

We waited and waited for food to arrive at the spread. A couple of Non Veg Starters were added, but everything else was still empty. Finally, we got a taste of the Brochette. They tasted alright. Twenty minutes down the lane, the bread was served on the table after constant reminders, followed by our drinks. The bread was very good, and the dips were equally good. My Virgin Mojito was perfect.

We ordered for a portion each of the three Veg main course items they served: Lasagna, Potato Cake and Eggplant Roll. I then headed off to the Live Pasta counter. Since the place was packed, and also since most of the food on the spread was exhausted, almost everyone thronged to this counter, where a couple of Chefs were struggling to keep up with the crowd. After waiting for almost 20 minutes, I got a chance to get my pasta made. I had creamy Farfalle pasta with loads of cheese and vegetables.

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Though made in a hurry, the pasta was very good. It was creamy and cheesy, just the way I wanted it to be.

It had been more than an hour since we walked into the place, and about 40 minutes since we asked for the main course, and that’s when the food was finally served. It was probably because of me getting worked up that I realized that the place was really hot. When I pointed this out, the air-conditioning in the part of the restaurant we were sitting in was turned on. It was a packed house, and they were trying to save on their power bill!! 😀

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The Potato Cake looked very colorful, but he smashed potato underneath the vegetables was bland, and too much carrot gave it a sweet taste. It was alright.

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The Lasagna was cheesy and decent. My family liked it, but I’ve had better lasagna.

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The Eggplant Rolls were the best of the lot. They were very well cooked and stuffed with broccoli. Delicious!

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Now that I’d got the Managers attention, desserts were served at the table. They had Chocolate Mousse Cake, Lemon Cake and Strawberry Cheese Cake. All of them were excellent and I loved the Mousse cake the most. We also had Cashew and Raisin, and Chocolate Gelato, both of which were equally good.

Overall, a so so experience. The food was great, but the service and the general ambience were a total letdown. This place felt exquisite the last time I was here, but this time was like a fish market. The change from the Executive Lunch to the Buffet was a welcome, for it added more value to money, but I believe doing it without having proper resources caused them a letdown. With the Snapdeal, they just asked for more trouble. The exclusivity of the restaurant was lost, and it turned out to be like any other buffet place in town. Thankfully, the on-floor Manager took a note of our grievances, and promised to work on them.

If you haven’t yet, visit this place for their awesome Italian fare, but don’t hope for the best of service or ambience (for the moment atleast!!).

Food: 9/10
Service: 7/10
Ambience: 6/10
Buffet for 1: Rs. 578/- (Rs. 299 via Snapdeal)

Verdict: 7.5/10

Ruci and Idoni | Restaurant Review

Place: Ruci and Idoni
Location: Above Godrej Nature Basket, Road No. 10, Banjara Hills
Cuisine: European
Meal: Dinner (with couple of friends)

After wanting to visit this place for a long time, here I was finally on a weekday for dinner with couple of friends. The entrance is either through Nature Basket, or from the side of the building. Walking in, the place was brightly lit (a little too bright I suppose), and was partly full. They had a pastry counter at one corner and a glass kitchen on the other side. The ambience was just like any other Ohri’s restaurant in town, pretty good.

Once seated, we were handed over a couple of regular huge menus, and a tablet. The tablet was clunky and pathetic, and its response time was horrendous. Unable to suffer misery with it, I asked it to be replaced with a regular menu. For the European experience they’ve been advertising about, I didn’t find anything special on their menu. Probably except for the Chicken Piri Piri, the rest were the usual Pizzas, Burgers and Pastas. I wanted to try their Pizza, so ordered Cayenne Mushroom Pizza. My friend ordered a Harvest Vegetable Multi Grain Pizza, and the other asked for a Mushroom and Chicken Cannelloni. We also ordered a side of Potato Wedges, Coffee on the Rocks and Confuso Blast.

The drinks were served first in about 10 minutes. The Coffee on the Rocks was very good. It had a strong Mocha flavor. The Confuso Blast was supposed to be Frappe blended with honey and topped with nuts, but it was first served without any nuts. When I informed the same, it was taken back in and a couple of Pistachios were added on the top. It was a bad choice on my part, for it was just plain cold coffee, nothing impressive.

The Wedges were served soon with some mayonnaise. They were crisp, but too oily for my taste.

My friend had asked his Harvest Vegetable Pizza with as minimal cheese as possible, but the Chef seemed to have misunderstood it for extra cheese, for it was full of it. We were really unhappy with it and asked for a replacement, and it was replaced without any fuss.

The replacement pizza looked much better, and there was a harvest of vegetables on it indeed – cherry tomatoes roasted with garlic, basil, peppers, spinach, broccoli and caramelized onions. The base was crisp, and nice. Nothing exotic, but a decent pizza nevertheless.

My Cayanne Mushroom Pizza was cheesy, just the way I wanted it to be. It had button mushrooms, morels, broccoli, roasted garlic, cilantro, onions, olives and mozzarella on a piri piri sauce base. There was not much piri piri, and therefore the pizza wasn’t as spicy as I expected it to be. The base too wasn’t as crisp as the Harvest Vegetable pizza. However, the cheese tasted yum, and overall, a good pizza.

My other friends Mushroom and Chicken Cannelloni was served along with buttered Garlic bread. The sauce was too thin, but the Cannelloni, apparently, was very good. The quantity served was very less though.

To finish off the meal, we ordered an Ebony Ivory Mousse and Awful Brownie sundae. The Awful Brownie had chunks of yummy brownie with vanilla ice cream topped with chocolate sauce. It tasted great. Warm brownie would have tasted even better.

The mousse was a dish suggested by the waiter. It was supposed to be White and Dark Chocolate Mousse with Caramel sauce. I specifically asked him if it was going to be fresh mousse and he said yes. Instead, what they served was something which tasted more like gelato than mousse. It was very sweet and a total disappointment.

Overall, an average meal. The pizzas were good and the rest was decent. The service was pretty neat. We sat for a long time, and were never really bothered. The food is expensive, but that’s a given when you visit an Ohri’s restaurant. Ruci and Idoni is not a fancy restaurant like they make it sound, but a decent one nevertheless. Give it a shot at leisure.

Food: 8/10
Service: 8.5/10
Ambience: 8/10
Meal for 3: Rs 1795/-

Verdict: 8/10

100 Degrees | Restaurant Review

Place: 100 Degrees
Location: Necklace Road, Ranigunj, Secunderabad
Cuisine: Continental
Meal: Dinner (with a friend)

Dropped in at 100 Degrees last week with a friend for dinner. It was raining on this particular night, so we sat in the glass enclosure on the terrace. The place was empty when we reached, but got full as the night progressed. Probably because of the rain, all the waiters seemed a little out of sorts.

We ordered a Four Cheese pizza to start. Later on, my friend ordered a Shanghai Chicken Sizzler, while I opted for a Mushroom Satellite Sizzler.

The pizza was served in about 15 minutes. I stated in my last review that they serve the best pizza in town. After having the one at Viva Italia and Via Milano, I conclude that they serve not the best, but one of the best pizzas in town. Topped with mozzarella, cheddar, smoked scamorza and Danish blue cheeses, the pizza was yum.

After a while, the sizzler were served. It had a Cottage Cheese cutlet with sautéed mushrooms on white rice, topped with mushroom sauce, cheese slice and fresh cream. The cutlet was very well cooked, the sauce had a nice flavor, and the veggies were crunchy. I would have preferred Fried rice instead of the white rice though. My friend liked his Chicken sizzler as well.

Overall, it was a decent meal. However, the experience and service was a let down. My sizzler was supposed to come with Coke, which was served after the meal when I reminded the waiter about it, and the bread served was stale (one even had a mold on it). Like every other Ohri’s restaurant I’ve visited in the recent time, even this one needs to pull their socks up. I still consider it one of my favorite joints though, for the food is yum, and they are all reasonably priced. Give it a shot if you haven’t yet.

Food: 8.5/10
Service: 8/10
Ambiance: 8/10
Meal for 2: Rs. 843/-

Verdict: 8/10

Viva Italia | Restaurant Review

Place: Viva Italia
Location: Ground floor, White House, Next to Lifestyle Building, Begumpet
Cuisine: Italian
Meal: Dinner (with couple of friends)

I’ve been to my favorite pizza place in town quite often since I wrote the last review in April. This time around, dropped in with my friends (I’ve been meaning to drag these guys here for a while now and finally succeeded). We dropped in for dinner, and were cordially greeted by the co-owner. We made ourselves comfortable at one of the three laid out benches.

I ordered my regular Garden Pizza and my other friend ordered a Pepperoni Pizza. My third friend, who happens to be very choosy about his food, asked for a Veg Club Sandwich without cheese and with less mayonnaise. We also ordered some Garlic bread.

The Garlic Bread was served in about 10 minutes. The bread was very good and the garlic sauce on top was yummy. We asked for some pizza sauce to dip the bread in, and with it the bread tasted even better. We loved it so much, that we ordered for a second portion.

The Club Sandwich was served next. My friend was very happy with it for it was just as he requested it to be.

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It took unusually long time for the pizza to be served, but it was totally worth the wait. Crispy thin crust pizza with cheese melting in your mouth, amazing!! I actually thought the pizza was better than the last time I had it. My friend loved his Pepperoni pizza as well.

To finish things off, we ordered a Death By Chocolate from Sweet Chill. It was chocolaty, yes, but wasn’t as good as we expected it to be. There was a lot of cherry under the ice cream, which kinda ruined the taste.

Overall, except for the desert, a yummy meal. I’ve already stated this to be my favorite pizza in town, and it didn’t disappoint. If you still haven’t, go try it now!!

PS: I did mention in my last review that this is a very small place. It is no fancy Italian dine-in restaurant, but just a kiosk in the White House building. So don’t walk in having these huge expectations about the ambiance. They serve good food, and that’s what matters, doesn’t it?

Food: 9.5/10
Service: 9.5/10
Ambiance: 9/10
Meal for 3: Rs. 628/-

Verdict: 9.5/10

Via Milano | Restaurant Review

Place: Via Milano
Location: Road No. 36, Jubilee Hills
Cuisine: Italian
Meal: Lunch (with a friend)

After hearing a lot, and I mean a lot about this place, I was finally here for lunch on my birthday. We walked in into this bright restaurant, well-lit from the sunshine outside. On first look, I liked the place and the ambiance. It was quite full for a weekday and we were seated at a table for four in a corner, next to the bar. We had to move to a different one soon, for I had accidentally spilled water on the table.

We were offered a menu for the Executive Lunch, which was basically a fixed menu which included a drink, starter, an entrée and a desert. For 500 bucks (vegetarian), it seemed very reasonable, so we opted for it.

The moment we placed the order, a bread basket was served along with Olive oil, Vinegar, Chopped Tomatoes and Garlic sauce. The bread was fresh, and the garlic sauce was awesome. It was definitely the best I’ve had in recent times. Finger licking good!

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For the drinks, I picked Surf Song (Pineapple juice, Lychee juice, Coconut milk, Blue Curacao) and my friend had a Winter Breeze (Cranberry juice, Melon syrup, sweet and sour). The Surf Song was served in a Margarita glass and was very good. The other drink was served in a wine glass, half filled (as much as you see in the pic). It tasted just like regular Cranberry juice, nothing great. I was very disappointed with the quantity.

For the starters we had Fried Buffalo Mozzarella and Zucchini Rolls, with a tomato sauce, and Panzarotties filled with spinach, ricotta cheese and nuts served with a spicy tomato and pesto sauce.

The cheese and zucchini rolls were very well presented. The quantity though was minimal (It was the same for the rest of the meal, so I wouldn’t mention it again). The taste though was exceptional. The cheese was very good and was melting in my mouth. They tasted great with the yummy garlic sauce.

The Panzarotties tasted very good, crunchy, and I loved the spicy sauce served along.

For the main course, it was Spaghetti in a cream and tomato sauce, with herbs and sautéed vegetables, and Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli on fresh oregano scented light tomato sauce.

The Spaghetti’s quantity was much better than the rest. It was good and had a strong tomato flavor to it. I would have preferred it to be more creamy.

The Ravioli tasted pretty much like the Panzarotties. The sauce was creamy and yum.

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Finally, for deserts, we picked a Tiramisu with Italian Mascarpone cheese, Lavazza Espresso and Rum, and a White and Dark Chocolate Mousse Terrine. The Mousse was excellent. The Tiramisu was good as well, but had loads of rum in it, too strong for me.

Though I was full, unable to stop my temptation to have a pizza (since I’ve heard that these guys serve really good pizzas), ordered a Quattro Formaggi (tomato sauce and four types of Italian cheese; mozzarella, parmesan, goat cheese and gorgonzola).

After having small portions of everything, was first impressed by the size of the pizza (I am guessing it was a good 12″). The crust was good, sauce perfect, but I thought the cheese was a lil too strong. It had an after taste which was quite weird. Though I liked it, I still prefer the 100 Degrees or the Viva Italia pizza.

Overall, a sumptuous meal. I loved the concept of the executive lunch. Though the quantities could have been way better, it was good enough to make you walk out without feeling stuffed. The ambiance is great, service was pretty good as well, except that it took unusually long periods of time for the food to be served (not that we had a problem with it). I liked the way they presented their food, and the food in itself was pretty yummy. It would now be tough to choose between this place and Little Italy.

I’d suggest you give the place a try. Who knows, you might have a new favorite restaurant in town! 🙂

Food: 9/10
Service: 8.5/10
Ambiance: 9/10
Meal for 2: Rs. 1555/- (Including the pizza)

Verdict: 9/10